Railway coupling apparatus.



No. 702,563. Patenten-:une I7," 19021.

v W; R. S; JONES. RAILWAY'CUUPLING APPARATUS.`

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ffl/@ l No. 702,56'. Patejfea. lune I7, 1902.

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RAILWAY COUPLING APPARATUS.

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RAILWAY CUUFLING APPARATUS.

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No. 702,563. w. n. s. JONES.

RAILWAY couPLma APPARATUS. (Application med Mar. 15, 1902.)

Patented June a7,l |902.

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RAILWAY CDUPLING APPARATUS.-

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Patented June I7, 19112.`

No. 702,563. Patented June I7, |902.

w. n. s.l Jones. i RAILWAY CUUPLING APPARATUS.

(Application led Mar. 15, 1902.)

(No Mo'del.) .I7 Sheets-Sheet@ jive/afa :y

Patented lune I7,l |902.

W. R.' S. J'NES.v RAILWAY COUPLING APPARATUS.

(Application med Mar. 15, 1902.)

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(No Model.)

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No., 7o,2,53. Patented June |7,-`|9o`2.vl

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RAILWAY GOUPLING APPARATUS.

(Application led Mar. 15, 1902.)

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m. 702,563. Patented June |7, 1902.`l f

` w. n. s. Jones. RAILWAY CUPLING APPARATUS.

(Application fixed Mar. 15, 1902.)

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'Patented 11mm;|9021` w. yn. s. JoNE-s. y RAILWAY CUPLING APPARATUS.

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RAILWAY COUPLING APPARATUS.

Patented-June I7, 1902.;

. (Application med Mar. 15, 1902.) v.

CNU'MUHI- I7 sheets=-sheet I4.

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Patented June* |7, |902.

l No. 702,563.

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No.. 202,553. Patentedzlune |7, |902.

w. ms. Jones. RAILWAY QOUPLING APPARATUS.

(Application med ma. 15, 1902.)

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES? PATENT OEEIcE.

WILLIAM RICHARD SIIMPTION JONES, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

RAILWAY COUPLING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 702,563, dated .June17', 1902-.

Application filed March 15, 1902.

To LZZ whom t muy concern/.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM RIQHARD SUMPTION JONES, a subject/of theKing of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Whitehall, London,England, have invented Improvements in Railway Coupling Apparatus, ofwhich the following is a specication.

This invention has reference to improvements in that type of railwaycoupling apparatus for coupling vehicles having side buf-V fers whereinthe coupling or uncouplingof one vehicle to or from another is 'effectedby l means of a central coupling-chain, one end' link of which or itsequivalent is attached to the draw-hook of one vehicle andV the otherend link of which is adapted to be lifted onto or from the draw-hook ofan adjacent vehicle, by operating mechanism adapted to be worked fromeither side of the'vehicle.

One object of my invention is .to provide means whereby the inwardmotion of one or both of the buers on the vehicle will automaticallycause the link to be yplaced on the hook of the other vehicle.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby the linkconnectedto one vehicle may be automatically raised out of the hook ofthe other vehicle on the loosen# ing of the coupling-chain.

A further object of the invention is to pro;V vide means in theabove-referred-toconstruction whereby the vehicles maybe-non-autoinatically coupled or uncoupled. y A

With these objects in View and others my invention includes theconstruction and arrangement of parts, either separately or incombination, as will be described hereinafter with reference to theaccompanying drawings and then particularly pointed out in the claims.

Inthe accompanying illustrative drawings, Figure 1 shows in sideelevation the adjacent ends of two railway-vehicles, one of which isprovided with automatic coupling apparatus adapted to fulfil all thefunctions hereinbefore referred to. Thesaid apparatus is shown held inthe operative orcoupling position, ready to become automatically engagedwith the drawhook of the other vehicle, which is shown unprovided withautomatic coupling apparatus. Fig.2 shows in end elevation one of thevehicles with the automatic coupling apparatus there- Serial No. 98.407.(No model.)

on held in the same position as in Fig. 1 and with one of thebuffer-heads removed to show other parts more clearly. Fig. 3 is asimilar view to Fig. 1, but showing the two vehicles coupled and onepulling on thel other. shows, partly'in side elevation and partly in.longitudinal section', how two coupled vehicles whose draw-hooks may beat different heights can be pressed fully together without thecoupling-chain becoming-accidentally uncoupled. The said figure alsoshows by means Fig. 4

of a thick dotted line the path in which the center of the joint betweenthe coupling-link and the link-carrier moves when the operating parts ofthe coupling apparatus are in the positions indicated, thus showing thatit is then-impossible ,for the coupling apparatus to become accidentallyuncoupled. Fig. 5 is a similar view to Fig. 3, but showing the ap--pa-ratus in the act of beingautomatically Vmoved into the uncoupling.position by move- Fig. 6

ment of the two vehicles together. shows in full lines the positionwhich the parts of the apparatus automatically assume at the end of theuncoupling operation, the dotted lines showing the position oftheprincipal parts of the apparatus when moved into the lowest inoperativeposition. Figs. 6 and 6" are side and end elevations showing parts ofthe apparatus to a larger scale than Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive. Figs. 7and 8 are elevations at right angles to one another, and Fig. 9 asection onthe line A A of Fig. 7, showing to a larger scale than Figs. 1to 6, inclusive, an-

other form of coupling-link with link-carrier i therefor.

showing modied details. Fig. l12 is a side elevation, andFig. 18 asection on the line 'B' l part side elevation, and Fig. 21 a part end'elevation with the buffer-rod in Section, showing Figs; 10 and 11 areside elevations a how the construction of the couplingapparatus can besimplified when such apparatus is designed for non-automatic couplingand uncoupling and for automatic uncoupling, but not for automaticcoupling. Figs. 22 and 23 are similar views to Figs. 2O and 2l,respectively, showing how the construction of the coupling apparatus canbe further simplified when such apparatus is designed for non-automaticcoupling and unconpling, but not for automatic coupling or automaticuncoupling.

Referring to Figs. l to 6", inclusive, a is a pivoted support for theinner link b of the coupling-chain, which is composed of three links b cd and is connected to the draw-hook e of the vehicle f.

g is a link-carrier jointed to the ou ter end of the outer link CZ ofthe coupling-chain (herein called the coupling-link) and provided at therear side with two slotted portions g g.

c is the intermediate link of the couplingchain.

7L is a transverse shaft, (herein called the liftingshaft,) which ismounted in bearings j, xed to the end of the vehicle, and is providedwith a lifting-crank t', which loosely engages with the slotted portionsg of the linkcarrier g.

7c is a hollow rock-shaft, (herein called the reversing-shaft,) which ismounted upon an inner transverse operating-shaft fm, carried by thebearings n is a reversing-lever xed to the reversing-shaft and connectedto the lower end of the link-carrierg through a connecting-rod o, thatis jointed to the said link-carrier and is arranged to slide through across-pin p on the reversing-lever n and is provided with stops o ando2, arranged at opposite sides of the pin 17.

The support ct consists of a link like a shackle-link, the inner end ofwhich is split and may be jointed to lugs q, formed on a plate r, fixedto the end of the vehicle and through which the inward extension of thedraw-hook e works. The outer end of the said link a is arranged toproject into the path of the lifting-crank 1l, so as to be raised andsupported thereby when the lifting-shaft 7L is operated for coupling oruncoupling. The draw-hook e-is formed with a slot s and hole t, asheretofore usual, for the reception of the inner end of the inner link bof the couplingchain, and the top of the draw hook e is formed with arecess or seat fu, for supporting the coupling-link d and link-carrierg, which are prevented from accidentally leaving the said seat by aprojection u'.

The coupling-link (l is made square-ended at its outer end, and thelink-carrier g is made of fork shape and jointed at its upper end to thesides of the coupling-link, near the outer end thereof, by studs orprojections o on the link-carrier entering corresponding holes in thecoupling-link. The upper end of the linkcarrier gis provided with adetachable crosspiece g2, that forms a movable extension of thelink-carrier and extends over the end of the coupling-link CZ and whichis mounted to turn to a limited extent upon the studs or projections fu.The arrangement is such that in the event of the link-carrier g andcoupling-link CZ falling into their lowest inclined and uncoupledpositions these parts will then be held by the lifting-crank fi andreversinglever fn and their corresponding shafts h and 7c and a stop 2,hereinafter referred to, in such positions that the upper end of thelinkcarrier '9, formed by the cross-piece g2, will be above the bottomof the highest draw-hook e with which it may come in contact and be thenmoved upward thereby, and thus prevent the coupling-link d from passingbelow and fouling such draw-hook, and when the coupling-link is liftedinto engagement with such draw-hook the link-carrier g can fallsufficiently to allow of its top cross portion g2 entering the hook andseating itself on the top of the coupling-link d therein, so as not tofoul any part of the draw-hook, and can accommodate itself to anyworking condition assumed by the coupling-link d in the said draw-hook.The slotted portions g of the link-carrier g are formed by two bentbars, fixed to the inner side of the slotted lever and adapted to bearon the lifting-crank ,which is adapted to provide a Wide base or bearingfor the link-carrier and is centrally arranged on the lifting-shaft h,the ends h' of which are bent at right angles, or nearly so, to thelength of the shaft to form the supportingarms hereinbefore referred to.

The slotting of the lower portion of the link-carrier g at g( is animportant feature, as it enables the said link-carrier to move upwardindependently of the lifting-crank 'L' to a small extent during a partof the time the coupling-link is being lifted clear of the draw-hook,and it also allows of relative movement of the adjacent parts of theliftingcrank and link-carrier when the connection between two vehiclesbecomes lengthened by the yielding of the draw-springs of the vehicles.The slotting of the link-carrier also permits of free lateral movementof the coupling-link-as, for instance, when adjacent vehicles are on acurve or otherwise out of a direct line.

The reversing-lever n is simply an arm fixed upon the hollowreversing-shaft 7c, which is mounted to turn on the inner operatingshaftm, which is adapted to be suitably connected to the reversing-shaft 7c,so as to enable this shaft to be rotated by it in either direction. Inthe example the two ends of the hollow reversing-shaft 7c are formedwith segmental notches l l, into which, respectively. take projections 222 The projection 2 is xed to the adjacent bearingj and acts as a stopto limit the backward movement of the reversing-lever 'n and hold it inthe position shown in Fig. l. The other projection-viz., 2-is fixed tothe operating-shaft m and is IOO ITO

IZO

adapted by partly rotatinglsuch shaft in 'either direction to engage oneor other end of the notch 1a and rotate the hollow reversing-shaft laand reversing-lever n in a forward or backward direction.

The ends of the operating-shaft'm are provided with weighted operatingarms or handles 3, (hereinafter called weighted arms,) that are normallyheld in their forward position, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, so as to hold thereversing-lever nin its extreme rearward position, but which when movedbackward past their mid-position act to move the reversinglever nforward and cause the automatic uncoupling of two coupled vehicles totake place when the same are moved toward one another.

The means for holding the lifting-'crank t' in the raised position, intowhich it is moved through the link-carrier g by the pull on thecoupling-chain when starting two coupled vehicles, may be brought intoaction by backward movement of the operating-shaft m. The release of thelifting-shaft h may be effected by the backward movement of thecoupling-link d and link-carrier g when automatic uncoupling takesplace, or by the backward movement of one or other, or both, of thebuffer-heads 4 on the vehicle CZ towhich the coupling apparatus isapplied, or by both of these means combined, the necessary extent ofbackward movement of the vehicles for uncoupling being governed by thelength of lthe coupling-chain used.

In the example the lifting-shaft h with lifting-crank t is arranged tobe held up by a.

weighted pawl, pivoted at one side of the vehicle and adapted to engagewith a ratchet `wheel or segment 6, thatris formed in one piece with oneof two stop-lifting devices 7, that are mounted to turn about the endportions of the lifting-shaft h inside the supporting-arms h. When theweighted arms 3 are in their forward position, Fig. 1, the pawl 5 isheldout ofengagement with its ratchetsegment 6 bya cam 'm'on thecorresponding end of the operatingshaft'm;` but when the weighted arms'`are moved into their backward position, Fig. 5, the cam m' is moved intoits forward position and allows the weighted pawl 5 to engage with itsratchet-l segment 6. If desired, there may be a pawl and ratchet-segmentat each side of the vehicle, vthe teethv on one segment being arrangedout of line with those on the opposite segment, so as to givethe sameresult as a single segment having teeth of intermediate or dividedpitch.

Each ofthe two stops for holding the coupling apparatus in position forautomatic coupling comprises, according to the arrangement shown, a bar8, that is jointed at its outer end 8a to the back of the buer-,head 4and extends backwardly through a verticallyslotted guide lO, carried bythe buffer-case Each stop-liftingdevice 7 in the example comprisesaplate mounted to turn around the lifting-shaft h andl adapted byfriction or otherwise tobe held in the position into which it is raisedand then released. For this purpose each plate may, as in the example,be bent upon itself, so as to t over the adjacent bearingj and tightlyiit the same when moved into its raised position. Eachstop-lifting'device is provided with two lateral projections 11 and 12,between which the corresponding `supporting-arm h on the saidlifting-shaft h extends, and.- is adapted to be turned in an upward andinward direction by ahand-lever 13, that is mounted to turn freely uponthe corresponding end portion ofthe said lifting-shaft h and is providedwith a lateral projection 13a, which when the said hand-lever is turnedupward is caused to abutagainst the adjacent supporting-arm h and turnthe lifting-shaft h and lifting-crank c' in an upward direction to anextent that is limited by an extension 13b of the lever coming againstthe stop 14. lEach supportingarm h when raised abuts against theprojec-` sufficiently to lift and slip past the lpivoted stops 8, butwill not raise the stop-lifting devices 7 suciently high to bring theprojections 12 thereon into position to hold the stops 8 in theraisedposition, s o that the said pivoted stops 8 after being raised bythe supporting-arms h will fall in front of such arms,`

and act to prevent them and the lifting-shaft h turning downward whenthe hand-lever 13 is` released. Eachsupporting-arm h is,however, free tobe afterward turned inward to a further extent by inward movement of thestop "3 IOO in contact therewith and through the adjacentprojection 11further raise the corresponding stop-lifting device 7 into a position inwhich the projection 12 thereon will lift the stop 8 out of engagementwith the said supportingarm h and itself become held by friction in theposition to whichy it has been raised, so as to leave the saidsupporting-arm free to fall past the said stop 8, after which-it will,by abutting against the said projection 12, move the stop-lifting device7 `downward with/itk and allow the correspondingvstop 8 to resume itsnormal position. The varrangement is such that if the two vehicles f,Fig. 1, to be automatically coupled be on a curve and one of the stops 8is forced backward by the impact of thebuffer-head 4; at one side of onevehicle against that at the corresponding side of the other vehicle,such stop willby acting- IIO against the end of the correspondingsupporting-arm h partly rotate such arm in an upward and inwarddirection, ,and through the lifting-shaft h'will simultaneouslyrotatethe second su orting-arm h at the o osite side D PP of the vehiclein an upward and inward direction. The two supporting-arms hin their

